Thanks so much to Jodie Slaughter and St. Martin’s Press for the free ARC.

Miriam and Leo have the cutest story!! This book is definitely one I recommend to anyone. Jodie is such a great writer and can’t wait to read more!

Warning: This book is SPICY! I loved the second chance at love theme and winning the lotto was just a fantasy icing on the cake! I loved the passion that came off the pages of reading every single line! I liked Miri and Leo a lot and I could tell that the chemistry between them was still very much alive. I feel like eight years seems like a very long time for them to be apart to have any hope for a reconciliation but I was excited to see them give it a try. It takes a long time for the romance of the story to fully kick in but I was eager to see how things would develop.

“ “Six.”
The age she was when she met Leo Vaughn.
“Thirty-one.”
Like the day in July she’d kissed him for the first time.
“Fourteen.”
The number of wildflowers he always brought her, two more than a dozen to make up for the fact that he couldn’t get her store-bought ones.
“Twenty-one.”
The most times he’s told her he loved her in one day.
“Fifty-eight.”
The number of days it had taken her to leave the house again after he’d left.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Revolves around abandonment. Touches on infidelity and death of parent. Contains explicit sexual content.

“Play to Win” follows Miriam Butler as she reunites with her estranged husband, Leo Vaughn, in hopes of getting a fast divorce after winning more than 200 million dollars in the lottery.

I was lucky enough to get ARCs for both the book and the audiobook, and I absolutely loved it. Lacy Laurel was the perfect voice for Miriam and for this novel, I can’t believe I hadn’t heard her narrate any other books before.

Jodie Slaughter’s “Bet on It” was amongst one of my favorite books last year. It was charming and spicy and so well-written. “Play to Win” brings exactly that to the table. I just couldn’t give it a 5-star rating because of the nature of this second chance romance—I’ll blame it on my abandonment issues, but leaving your spouse for 8 years just isn’t right under any circumstance and with no explanation, there is no redemption after that. And getting reunited after she won the lottery? I don’t know… was he aiming for her or the money? If I were Miriam, I wouldn’t know—and that’s all I could think about throughout.

Don’t hesitate to grab “Play to Win” if you’re looking for a fast-paced, spicy romance novel. The characters are likable and almost relatable if you can imagine yourself winning literally hundreds of millions of dollars in the lottery.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

I think Jodi is now a fave author for me. This was a sweeping romance, I was holding my breath for this reconciliation. It was kind of hard to believe that they went 8 yrs without speaking but I can surely understand the aversion to being the first to reach out. Male MC building the Female MC a house will always make me swoon and I’m a sucker for second chance

Jodie Slaughter is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. There's something about her stories that just resonate with me so much. Between this one and Bet On It, I'm not sure which one I love the most. Play to Win is a second chance/marriage in trouble romance, and the tension and angst between Miri and Leo is sooooo good! I loved their dynamic and felt for each of them. Leo let his pride get in his own way of not being able to provide for Miri when they were married, and ultimately led him to leave because he thought he wasn't good enough for her. I really loved the journey he went on in learning that his decision didn't just hurt Miri, but his family and friends as well. He ultimately owns up to his mistake and while it understandably takes Miri some time to forgive him and let go of the hate she has for him for his past decision, I love the way they reconnected with each other in the end.

I also loved the casual queerness in this book (Miri is bisexual, Leo seems demisexual coded to me, even Miri's mom is queer!), it was so wonderful to see. I also liked the interesting conversations about money after Miri wins the lottery. I don't think I've ever seen poor characters represented in romance books, and I thought it was interesting to see how winning a wild amount of money affected Miri. You'd think anyone would just be insanely happy and drop a bunch of money on stuff they don't need, but you could really tell Miri put so much thought into what she wanted to do with it, and provide for her friends and family to make sure they're all taken care of, too.

Overall, I absolutely adore this book. I can't wait to see what Jodie Slaughter comes out with next!

A second chance story, Play to Win is about Miri winning the lottery. In order to protect her winnings, she has to reconnect with a husband she hasn’t seen in 8 years.
A story about how money doesn’t always bring you happiness.
A story about how money can’t solve all your problems.
A ok romcom.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is my first time reading a book by Slaughter, and overall I can say I enjoyed it!

The concept here was cute, but I think there were just some parts that were lacking. I love a second chance romance, but I think that the time lost between them was my biggest issue. The reason he left was pretty weak, and the fact they were apart for almost a decade without divorcing yet seemed unrealistic to me. And I don’t think they did enough work to overcome the damage done by him leaving.

There were also some moments that seemed a bit cringey because there were unnecessary vulgar comments. Don’t get me wrong, I love a super spicy book. But the sexual comments seemed harsh in the moments where they randomly came up.

Plus the idea that the thing that was the catalyst to them reconciling was her winning millions and she doesn’t want him to have any? Doesn’t sit quite right.

What I did love was the relationships that the main characters had with their friends and family. There were moments that had me cracking up because they called each other out all the time. And I also loved the small town feeling in the book, where everyone is looking out for each other.

If you love a second chance romance with some comedy, strong female friendships, and a dash of spice all set in a small town — then check this one out!

This is my first novel by Jodie Slaughter and it was a fun read for me. This is a romance and second chance at love with Miri and Leo as main characters. Miri wins the lottery and reaches out to her estranged husband of eight years for a speedy divorce, but things do not go as planned. Aside from Miri and Leo, the background characters added dimension and purpose and i liked the relationship between Miri and her mother Patrice. The spice in the novel added the cherry on top. I recommend this book to people that like romance and second chances.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the ARC.

Miriam or Miri has hit an all time low in her life. Stuck in the endless loop of a job she’s had since she was sixteen, and never ending routines that feel like she’s in a rut with life. But all that changes when she wins the lotto and with it her estranged ex husband.

The plot had some slow times but all I all I liked this second chance romance with a money twist added. The banter and spiciness was really great and had me wanting to not put the book down. I also love small town settings so this one had a lot of things I enjoyed in a story.

If you’re looking for the same things I enjoy in a romance, than I highly recommend reading this book!

Play to win is the first book that I have read by Jodie Slaughter and it won’t be my last! I really enjoyed her writing style.

While I really appreciated the story itself - the first half really hooked me in. How exciting it would be to win the lottery that could change your life as much as it did for Miri and her family. The second part of the book fell a little flat for me.

There is a lot of miscommunication in this book and I feel like that can sometimes be a tricky trope to have in a book. To me, this book has more than what was needed…especially with the way that Leo just leaves with no real conversation or giving Miri a reason. Staying married for those eight years confused me…why would neither of them file for divorce? I say this because Miri is such a strong, vocal, independent character and I feel like she should have moved on sooner.

While they both may have grown as adults, I feel like their actions were pretty immature. That being said - I really adored the banter between Miri and Leo. Miri was my favorite of the two of them, she was so gracious with sharing her winnings not only to her loved ones but also to her community. In the beginning it was fun to watch how she was giving Leo a run for his money but then she caved so quickly when it came down to it. I would have appreciated more conflict between them to justify the way he left her.

I absolutely loved the relationship that Miri had with her mom and her besties. They were all so supportive of her especially in the hard times that she endured because of Leo. I loved their protectiveness of her.

All in all, I really enjoyed this second chance romance. It was a quick read full of wit, spice and love!

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬
Second Chance Romance
Childhood Love
Miscommunication
Small Town
Marriage in Trouble
Found Family

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: July 11, 2023
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬:320

Thank you to @NetGalley, @stmartinspress, @jodieslaughter for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book for my honest review!

I just finished Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter and here are my thoughts.

Miriam is stuck in a rut. She is still working the same dead end job, in the same town, sleeping in the same bed she grew up in. Her and her mama are barely making it but that doesn’t stop her mom from playing the lotto. When Miriam goes to pick up her mother’s play, she decides to get one for herself. She cannot believe her luck when she finds out she is the winner of the jackpot! Only snag… she hasn’t divorced the man that walked out on her 8 years ago and he could be entitled to half.

Leo never expected to hear from Miriam after that day so when she calls, begging him to come home so she can get her divorce and pay him off. Problem is, Leo doesn’t want a divorce. He wants his Miriam back.

This book was funny as all heck and had me chuckling at the witty banter and silly things the characters get up to. I love Miri from the get go. She was never greedy and wanted to help everyone. I loved it. I loved that she knew who she was. She used her time away from Leo to find her inner goddess but it took winning the lotto for her to truly dig into what she wanted from life. It’s amazing though how money didn’t bring her happiness. It bought just as much stress.

I loved the passion that came off every page. This rom com had real pizzazz and the writing was so good. Loved the flavor and the vibe and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

4.5 stars! Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy

Thank you NetGalley for an eArc

I really wanted to love this book, winning the lottery and a second chance romance, yes PLEASE!

However, Leo gave me very little to root him on with Miri. Miri is badass women whose relationships with family and the community of greenbelt is what made this book enjoyable. The side characters are much more interesting and exciting than Leo.

This book was delightful. A second chance romance for a marriage in trouble.

Miri is estranged from Leo, her husband, after he walked away from their marriage 8 years ago. On an off chance she happens to purchase a lottery ticket using numbers important to her marriage and she wins! For legal reasons she contacts Leo and he comes back to town. I appreciated that even though she won a life changing amount of money not all of her problems were solved. She knew how to take care of her loved ones, but she had no idea how to take care of herself.

I loved the interactions between Miri and Leo. They obviously loved each other, but weren’t great at communicating. My only pet peeve was Leo’s reason for leaving and staying away for so long. It felt weak considering how long he stayed away.

Cute story about winning the lottery and how it changes ones life -- especially the psychological shift of no money to millions.

Not the biggest fan of the love story line but the friends, the dynamics of the families, all the layered conversations that happened were lovely representations of the different battles the characters faced.

#arc
#netgalley
#playtowin

I thought this book was cute, and it gave me Denise Williams or Maizey Eddings vibes. I would definitely read more by Jodie Slaughter. It was a classic rom-com in book format, and the characters were very likable. I would also consider rereading this book because it is that good! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book in exchange for my honest review!

✨Book Review✨
Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
.
This book started off so strong and I really really loved it. As it continued it got a little sexual and repetitive for me, but I would still recommend it to anyone who likes fairly spicy rom coms. I did really love the mentions of therapy and the importance of strong friendships in the book.

When I read the description for Play to Win, my interest was immediately piqued. I thought the idea of the lottery win was really clever and I'm always here for a good second chance romance. For the first ten percent of the book, I really enjoyed getting to know Miri and Patrice. I love that this book was centered on the black community and a black love story, giving representation that is so often missing.
Unfortunately, after this early portion is when I started to have problems with this book. When Leo returns to town, I really feel like Miri's character is kind of ruined. She changes from the woman I started out believing was strong, stubborn, and family-oriented to cold, scorned, and cruel, as she purposely does hateful things to Leo and enjoys it. I recognize the huge issue with Leo walking out and not coming back for eight years, but Miri treated him with equal disrespect. We so often see the stereotype of the "angry black woman" and I feel like Miri embodied this and brought a negative energy to this story. She certainly doesn't need to be forgiving of her estranged husband, but the perpetuation of antagonistic generalizations is unnecessary.
I also think that the ending doesn't totally make sense because Miri spends the entire book vowing not to get back with Leo, and there's ultimately nothing he does to redeem himself in her eyes. She just gives in to her long-time love and lust for him. This is fine, just not...great. It is an unsatisfactory way to tie up the story.
Overall, while there were good elements to this book, there was an overwhelming amount of aspects I didn't like that disconnected me from this novel.

While I love second-chance romances, I wasn't a fan of this one. There's crude language throughout as well as stereotyping, and the story was way spicier than I anticipated based on the description. After a while, the whole thing of being drawn back together seemed more about their sex life than an emotional connection or appreciation for each other's qualities. They seemed to be more in lust with each other than in love.

Thank you to Jodie Slaughter, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Miri is a lottery winning Barbie and Leo is just a Ken who can't figure out how to make decisions in a relationship as a partnership.

I loved seeing Miri figure out what to do after winning the lottery but I was so disappointed that Leo didn't come back for 8 years until Miri called him even though he still loved her and had close family in the area.

This book was cute and had some fun movies but I found it so hard to root for these two to be together. Read this for the friendships and awesome family members because they are the character that made this book fun.

This was such a great feel-good story! It was a really quick read for me, and I think it would be a great beach/summer read.

Miri’s generosity and Leo’s determination were admirable, and I was rooting for them till the end. My favourite character would have to be Thea; her no-nonsense attitude is perfect!

I really appreciated how the hardworking Black families and the community they’ve formed in their small town was depicted. Everyone knows everyone’s business, and it makes for some fun situations! Now, I’m not saying all of it is realistic, but that’s why it’s a work of fiction, and it is a great one at that!

If you’re looking for a fun and entertaining second-chance romance, check this one out!